Device for casting wire-glass.



No. 653,850. P atented July l7, I900. J. w. SHEPPARD.

DEVICE FOR CASTING wms GLASS.

(Application filed Oct. 13, 1899.)

( 0 IOdBL) 2 Sheets-Sheet I m: norms PUERS co; PHOTO-LITHO., wsnlum'ofl,n. c.

No. 653,850. Patented .lulyvl7, I900. J. W. SHEPPARD.

DEVICE FOR CASTING WIRE GLASS.

(Application filed Oct. 1.8, 1899.)

2 Sheets-Sheet .2

(No Indel.)

vwemto 3% W s m x s u 1 0 I WK x s x x s x x =NrrnD STATES JOSEPH \V.SHEPPARD, OF NEYV YORK, N. Y.

DEVICE FOR CASTING WIRE'GLASS.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent NO. 653,850, dated July 17,1900.

Application filed October 13 1899.' Serial No. 733,468. (No inodel.)

To all whom it rim/y concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH W. SHEPPARD, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a newand useful Improvement in Devices for Oastin g VVire-Glass, of which thef ollowing is a specification.

My invention relates especially to the manufacture of sheet wire-glass,and has for its object the provision of means for casting the same,dispensing with the usual rolling apparatus.

To attain the desired end, my invention consists, essentially, in adevice for casting sheet Wire'- glass in which are comprised a moldformed of two vertical parallel plates of metal and centrally-dividedend and bottom pieces with which said plates removably engage, incombination with means for centrally stretching and holding a sheet ofwire fabric between the vertical plates from the exterior of the mold,and means for heating the mold, all of which will be hereinafter firstfully de* scribed and then pointed out in the claim.

In carrying my invention into effect I cast the wire glass betweensheets or walls of metal or other suitable material having sheets ofmetal fabric stretched tightly across the molds so formed midway betweenthe two walls. These walls may have polished surfaces if transparentglass is desired, or ribbed orembossed surfaces if figured ortranslucent glass is desired, these sheets of metal or molds being soadjustable in relation to each other upon a properly-constructedplatform provided with running-gear that there is space between thesheets forming the molds for the application of heat not onlybefore themolten glass is brought in contact with the molds, but also during thetime consumed in the casting and for some time afterward, according tothe requirements of the annealing process which takes place in themolds.

The sheets of metal forming the group of molds located side by side areso arranged that the spaces for the reception of the molten glass areopen at the top and closed at the sides and bottom, while theheating-chambers located on each side of the molds are closed allaround, provision being made for the proper ventilatiomaccording to therequirements of the process of heating.

The sheets forming the molds may be of any size desired and so adjustedas to admit of the'casting of a sheet of glass of any desired thickness,even varying in thickness or design in the same group or series, andtwenty, more or less, may constitute a group, according to the size ofthe truck that carries them or the platform upon which they areassembled. They are firmly clamped together in any efficient manner, andthe whole group then constitutes virtually a solid mass of sheets, andas the heat is very evenly distributed and is kept around the group ofmolds by a hood or cover made of suitable material sheets is simply animpossibility. The hood or cover is made of the proper dimensions to fitover a certain size group of molds and entirely envelop them during theprocess of heating some time before the casting of the glass, and whenthe group of molds has been heated to the desired degree the truck uponwhich the group rests is pushed along the track to a suitable place nearthe furnace, where the molten glass is poured or dumped in through anopening in the cover or hood, and the molten glass so falling on the topof the molds surrounded by an intensely-hot atmosphere gradually fillsall the open spaces, sinking into the hot molds by gravitation untilthey are filled. The molten glass completely filling the molds makes acompact mass around the metalfabric, which is tightly stretched acrossthe middleof each mold, the whole being heated to a high temperature,thereby making the necessary homogeneous mass requisite to theproduction of a perfect and clear sheet of wire-glass.

After filling the molds the truck, with the process of heating stillgoing on, can be pushed back to the place from which it was taken andthe process of annealing consummated by the gradual reduction of theheat until at last no artificial heat is applied, and when the molds arecool and the hood or cover lifted the sheets ofwireglass are removed.

According to the capacity of the furnace a number of trucks upon whichgroups of molds are placed can be used, each truck standing upon its ownswitch connected with the'track that leads to the furnace from whichthemol ten glass is obtained, whereby there is great it is plainly seenthat the warping of theeconomy of both time and labor gained in thecasting of the glass.

By my present invention the air in the molds so constructed and heatedbecomes rarefied before the molten glass is poured in. Thus there isvirtually none left of sufficient density to affect the glass. Hence itof necessity follows that there will be no air-bubbles in sheets ofwire-glass cast by this method. Likewise as the molten glass is notsubjected to the cooler stratas of atmosphere or metal surfaces itfollowsthat there will neither be any lappy glass produced by myinvention, or water or wave lines to distort the vision, or uneventhicknesses of glass, or sheets of glass having uneven cuttingqualities; also, owing to the fact that the wire fabric is rigidlyheldin place in the molds it will be at an even distance between thesurfaces of the sheet. Likewise the liability to crack excessively isreduced to a minimum, as the glass enters the molds in a molten statewithout coming in contact with cooler stratas of air or cool metalsurfaces to induce the forma tion of the skins or films upon thesurface; also, as the sheets of glass are cast in substantially a solidpack of molds and annealed in the same molds it is clearly seen thatwarping is made actually animpossibility. In addition to theaforementioned imperfections being prevented wire-glass made inaccordance with my invention will be of a superior quality, as it can bemade transparent or translucent at will, according to the polishing orembossing of the walls of the molds; also, as I do away with theannealing-oven and the force of men required to operate it, it followsthat I can produce wire-glass not only of superior quality, but at agreatly-reduced cost.

As the surfaces of the molds constructed in accordance with my inventionwill be of even and great temperature, regulated at will, the

molten glass will retain its plastic state until it has evenly filledthe molds, and so is kept from coming in contact with cool metalsurfaces or cooler stratas of air to prematurely chill the glass in partor in whole. Thereby it is plainly seen how my invention makes newconditions in the art of manufacturing wire-glass.

As hot metal and molten glass adhere to each other when brought in closecontact, it

might at first sight appear that this fact would be an impediment to thepractical working of my invention; but experience shows that althoughthe two adhere while they are in a heated state they will separate bynatural contraction of the metal as the heat decreases, and as the moldsare kept to a great heat for some time after the molten glass has beensupplied thereto the glass will not, therefore, prematurely harden, butbeing kept for some time in a plastic state will be free to seek itslevel by the law of gravitation, so the molds will be filled to theirutmost capacity and the product will of necessity be of superiorquality.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof, Figure 1 is a planview of a plant for carrying my invention into effect. Fig. 2 is an endelevation of a truck and mold platform. Fig. 3 is an enlarged verticalsectional view at line a: a: of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is an enlarged detailview of the metal fabric holding and stretching mechanism. Fig. 5 is ahorizontal view thereof at line (I, a of Fig. 4.

Similar numerals of reference wherever they occur indicate correspondingparts in all the figures.

1 is a track straight and provided with switches or turnouts, orcircular, as desired.

2 are the supporting-wheels of a truck, having a body or platform 3,whereon is located a sectional fireproof fioor 4, made of fire-brick orthe equivalent.

5 is a flexible gas pipe or hose from any source of gas-supply, leadingto a distributing-pipe 6, fixed to the truck-body.

7 are branch pipes which conduct the gas from the supply 6 to burningdevices 8 in the flooring 4, the flow to the branch pipes beingregulated by means of valves 9, and air to support combustion isadmitted through perforations (indicated by the dotted lines) throughthe sections of flooring 4.

10 are plates, preferably made ofsteel and in the case of use for makingtransparent glass having their faces highly polished.

11 are removable caps, the shape of an inverted V, which fit over andrest upon each pair of plates 10. At the bottom each plate 10 fits intoa groove in one of the floor-seetion 4 and at each side into grooves insectional supports 12, which in turn are held in place by a plate 13,which may be the entire length of the series of molds or made in parts,as desired.

14 is a sustaining-bracket, one of these being mounted upon the truck ateach side of the series or group of molds.

15 is a hood or cover. This hood is arranged to completely envelop themolds and is provided at top with a door 16 for the supply of moltenglass, as indicated in Fig. 1 of the drawings, and with lifting-rings17'.

18 are strips of metal arranged to be clamped to the ends of a sheet ofmetal fabric 19. It will be observed that the inner edges of the strips18 are curved or formed into the segment of a circle. By this means whenthe wire fabric 19 is placed between the plates 10, forming the walls ofthe molds, it is drawn rigid and perfectly stifi by turning theholding-pieces 18 at right angles to the sections 12, between which thefabric passes, as shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings. The top of the metalfabric is kept at the proper distance from the walls of the mold bymeans of clips 20.

In assembling the molds for use the floorsections 4 are first placed .inposition upon their support. A plate 10 is then set up against one ofthe brackets 14, and a sheet of metal fabric 19, with the end strips 18,is placed in front of the said plate 10, and. a

second plate is set up, when holding-sections 12, between which the wirefabric projects, are placed at each end of the plates 10, and so theentire group of molds is assembled, being held in place by the sidepieces 13, and the group is wedged in place between the brackets 14.Caps 11 are placed over the tops of each pair of plates 10, between thespaces for the reception of the molten glass, thus forming a'closedheating-chamber. The hood or cover 15 is now placed in position over thecompleted series or group of molds, and the gas is ignited within thehollow spaces between the molds forming the walls thereof, and the moldsand wire are heated to the desired degree.

I have shown my invention as arranged for heating by the combustion ofgas; but it is obvious that electricity might be employed as a heatingmedium, if desired, as I do not limit myself to any specific means ofheating the molds.

When the molds are brought to the proper degree of heat, the truck isrun to the source of supply of molten glass, which is caused to flowinto the space at the top of the molds and over the upper extremities ofthe heated walls, finding its way down into the spaces between thesections until the molds are completely filled. During this time theheat of the molds is maintained, and after the supply of molten glass isobtained the truck carrying the series of molds is run to any convenientpoint and the heat gradually remolds upon them can be thus employed tothe full capacity of the furnace.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desireto secure by Letters Patent, is

A device for casting sheet wire-glass in which are comprised a moldformed of two vertical, parallel plates of metal, and centrally-dividedend and bottom pieces with which said plates removably engage, incombination with means for centrally stretching and holding a sheet ofwire fabric between the vertical plates from the exterior of the mold,and means for applying heat to the mold, the whole arrangedsubstantially as shown and described.

Signed by me at New York, N. Y., this 11th day of October, 1899.

JOSEPH W. SHEPPARD.

Witnesses:

A. M. PIERCE, LESTER L. SIssoN.

